Piano



2 Sheets Sheet 1.

D. L STIR N. PIANO.

(No Model.)

No. 447,380. Patented Mar. 3,1891.

("No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

D. L. STIRN.

PIANO- No. 447,380. Patented Mar. 3,1891.

w m u m 0 H 7 .1 2 3 I n. l w M m M WW MJWWM H WYHH v I v wr w m UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL L. STIRN, OF MILlVAUKEE, WVISCONSIN.

PIANO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 447,380, dated March 3, 1891. Application filed September 15, 1890. Serial No. 365,080. (No model.)

To all whom it may 0012002 22 Be it known that I, DANIEL L. STIRN, of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Pianos, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the construction and arrangement of various parts of a piano, whereby I produce a grand upright piano having its tuning -pins and most of its action below the key-board, in which action'improvements are introduced, whereby the parts of the mechanism are nicely adjusted and adapted to each other and av peculiarly prompt and reliable movement of the mechanism is secured and great effective ness is achieved in the action of the piano.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of my improved grand upright piano, the front of the case being omitted to show the interior construction. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing a side elevation of the action and allied parts in connection with a single key of the piano. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the same mechanism shown in Fig. 2, but in different positions from those illustrated in Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a detail of a tuning-pin with a portion of the string-plate and tuning-block.

The case A and the string-plate B are constructed and secured to each other in substantially the same manner as is common in horizontal grand pianos, except that as this case and string-plate are in an upright position, the case is provided with legs A A at one end to support it in the vertical position shown. The strings C and O are arranged and secured to the string-plate B in substantially the same manner as is common in pianos, except that the tuning-pins D D are at the lower or key-board ends of the strings instead of being at the upper ordistant ends of the strings, as is common in upright pianos. The tuning-pins are also set differently from the ordinary piano, inthat they passthrough a specially-formed aperture in the metal string-plate B and are set in the tuning-block E. The plate B is made of such size that both ends of the strings are secured thereto,

the string-plate being properly supported by a wooden frame, as is common in other pianos. The tuning-pins D D pass through the plate 13 in frusto-conical or beveled apertures B, having their smallest diameter at the outer surface of the plate, which diameter is of just sufiicient size to permit the passage of the tuning-pin therethrough, and in which the tuning-pin bears against the sharp edge of the plate, formed at the outer end of the aperture, as shown in Fig. 4. This form of construction greatly strengthens the support of the pin, while the pin does not have a sufficient surface bearing against the plate to produce a sharp or metallic sound when the string is struck. The strings O and C are stretched over bridges F F, supported, respectively, on the string-plate B and on the sounding-board ll. Small bars G Gare placed across and against the strings below the bridge F, and are secured rigidly to the springplate to hold the strings in place and steady them in position.

The several keys of the piano and the operative mechanism connected to and allied therewith forming the action of the piano are substantially alike, and the description following of a single key and its connected and allied mechanism will be sufiicient to describe the similar construction of all the keys and their action. The piano-key 5 is fulcrumed on the bar 6, supported on the key-board frame 7. A pin 8, fixed in the bar 6, serves for a guide and pivot, on which the key tilts, a slot elongated longitudinally of the key at the top being provided, in which the pin is inserted. The key is provided with a supplementary projecting arm 9, secured adj ustably to the key5 and forming a part thereof, by means of screws 10 10 passing through the arm 9 and turning into the key 5, the arm 9 being lapped onto the key 5 and being provided with a centrally-enlarged part between the screws 1O 10, which serves as a fulcrum on which the arm may be tilted limitedly for adjustment by means of the screws 10 10. An elastic pin 11 is inserted in the key 5 and enters the arm 9 and serves by its elasticity as a hinge to connect these two parts together adj ustahly. The cushion-bars 12,13, and 14, the first two below and the last one above the keys, serve to limit the tilting movement of the keys. A jack l5, pivoted 011 the arm 9, is provided near its free end with a shoulder 16, adapted to engage temporarily a corresponding shoulder 17 on the stem l8'of the hammer 19. A spring 20, attached to the jack 15 and arm 9, respectively, is adapted to hold the jack yieldingly up to its work. A cushioned block 21, located between the free end of the jack and the hammer-stem 18, is

secured vadjustably to the jack, being sup 'ported on the end of an eyebolt 22, which turns by a screw-thread in the jack. This construction is adapted to insure the release of the jack from the hammer-stem when-the key is tilted down at its front end, as shown in Fig. 3, the block 21 being adjusted to be struck by the swinging stem 18 of the hammer when the key is depressed, whereby the jack is forced out of engagement with the hammer-stem against the'action of the spring 20. A stop 23, supported on the end of an eyebolt 24 turning through an arm 25, fixed on the arm 9, serves to limit the movement of the jack toward the hammer-stem. The eyebolt 24'passes movably through the jack in a slot therefor and turns by screw-thread in the arm 25, whereby the stop 23 ismade adjustable toward and from the arm 25. The hammer-stem 18 is pivoted in a bracket 26, secured rigidly to a bar 27 of the frame. A spring 28 is adapted to throw the hammer yieldingly away from the piano-string.

fA. cushioned bar 29, rigid in the frame of the piano, is adapted to limit the rearward movement of the hammer. A hammer-eatch consisting of the cushioned head 30, supported rigidly on the key 5 by the rod 31, is arranged and adapted to catch the hammer as it flies back from the string and before it strikes the bar 29 and while the key is still depressed or partially depressed, and prevent the hammer-stem from striking and rebounding on the bar 29, so that the hammer will be in position to be caught by the jack promptly when actuated by slight and quick movements of the key. By this means perfect quick strokes of the hammer-such as are frequently desired on the treblestrings-- arev insured. The hammen-head 32 is formed largely of leather in the usual manner, and this head is adapted to strike a string 0, as shown in Fig. 3, in the manner common in pianos. A damper 33 is secured adjustably on: one arm of the lever 34, thearm passing movablythrough the head of the damper, and a set-screw 35 being provided which turns through the head of the damper against the arm. of the lever. The lever 3i is pivoted medially on a bracket 36, fixed on a bar 37,

' forming a part of the frame of the piano.

The. damper is held yieldingly against a string 0 by means of' the spring 38. The other arm of the lever 34 bears movably against the arm. 25. By this construction the damper is removed from the string by the depression of the front end of the key at the same moment that the hammer by the same movement of the key is thrown against the string.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1; In a piano, a key formed in two parts,as

5 and 9, the part 9 being located near one end of the part 5 and substantially parallel thereto, an elastic pin, as 11, fixed in the two parts 5 and 9, the part 9 being beveled from the pin 11 in opposite directions away from the part 5, so as to be tiltable slightly thereon, and screws 10 10, passing through the part 9 and turning into the part 5 at a distance on each side from the pin 11, all combined substantially as described. r

2. In an upright piano, a jack pivoted to and pendent from the inner end of a key, a spring holding the jack yieldingly' toward the key and away from the string of the piano, a shoulder on the outside of the jack facing upward, and a hammer-stem pivoted to the frame outside of the jack, a shoulder 17 on the stem, adapted to engage the shoulder 16 on the jack, and a block 21, secured adjustably in the extremity of the jack and adapted to impinge against the stem of the hammer between its pivotal point and the hammer-head, all combined substantially as described.

3. In a piano, a metal string-plate covering the face of the tuning-block and having frusto-conical apertures in and through which tuning-pins are inserted, the pins being constructed and arranged to bear against the metal plate only at a thin encircling edge thereof, substantially as described.

4. In an upright piano, the combination, with a key and an arm, as 25, aifixed thereto substantially at right an gles therewith, of a jack pivoted to the key and pendent therefrom substantially parallel with the arm 25,,

a spring attached to the arm. and to the key, adapted to hold the jack yieldingly away from the arm, and a block 23, secured adj ustably to the arm by a bolt passing movably through the jack and arranged to limit the movement of the jack away from the arm, substantially as described. a

5. In an upright piano, the combination, with a key and a rigid arm 25, affixed at right angles thereto, of a damper 33, secured to one arm of alever, whichleveris pivoted medially on the frame of the piano, the other arm of which lever impinges with the fixed arm 25, and a spring 38, bearing against the lever and adapted to hold the damper yieldingly in contact with a string of the piano, substantially as described.

6. In a piano, the combination, with-akey, a jack pivoted thereto and provided with a shoulder adapted to engage a corresponding shoulder on the stem of a hammer, and a hammer on a stem pivoted to the frame and provided with a shoulder to be engaged by the jack, of a hammer-catch 30, attached rigidly to the key of the piano and arranged to string-plate, the Vertical tuning-block and receive and hold the head of the hammer on plate thereon being located below the keythe face of the catch, substantially as deboard, substantially as described.

scribed. I11 testimony whereof I affix my signature in 5 7. In an upright piano, the combination, presence of two Witnesses.

with a frame, a string-plate, and strings se- 7 T cured thereon, of atuning-block and tuning- DAB IEL STIRL' pins on which the strings are wound, which Witnesses: tuning-pins are inserted and arranged in the O. T. BENEDICT,

1o tuning-block through a Vertical plate of the ANNA FAUST. 

